Introduction
Listening as one of the communication
skills is important, if not more important than others. One could say that
other skills rely on listening to function effectively. A student who listens
very well has a good command of language, and can function effectively in his
given environment.
Listening is a communicative skill that
one starts to learn early in life. In the first early stage of life, babies
listen attentively thereby imitating what they hear. Listening is a
communicative skill of which if one utilizes well in life makes one successful.
In this case, a person that makes good use of his listening ability tends to be
more successful than those who do not.
Listening
is the ability to grasp what is being said and also ability to encode and
decode information. It involves, discarding the irrelevant information and
making use of the relevant ones. Many people cannot differentiate listening
from hearing. A person may be hearing somebody talking without listening to the
person. In listening, a person is more attentive and focused in order to digest
what the speaker is saying, while hearing is just the carrying of sound wave to
the brain without actually giving a thought to what the speaker is saying. In a
nutshell, a hearer cannot make any progress in what he does, but a listener
succeeds, because he puts what he gets into action.
Pandey (2005) believes that: “listening
involves, sensing, selecting interpreting, retaining, and retrieving the
messages spoken by others.” This shows that in listening, the senses must be
involved. It is a psychological process which must involve all the sensory
organs in man. Hearing is just physical.
According to Okoye in Nwankwo
(2006:103), listening is “an active, though unobservable, language behavior in
which the listener takes the leading role in sharing the knowledge of the real
world with the speaker”.
TYPES OF LISTENING
There are two major types of listening:
a. Intensive listening,
b. Extensive listening
A. Intensive
listening itself has sub-types.
Empathetic Listening-
This is understanding as well as responding to other people’s feelings. In
this, one participates in an informal conversation with friends, families,
couples that need advice. This type of listener gives some pieces of advice to
the speaker depending on what he was told and what the got. In this he shows
concern to the speaker’s problems.
Critical Listening-
Critical listening involves separating facts from opinions and evaluating the
speaker’s message. Unlike empathetic listening critical listening does not need
emotion on the part of the listener. For example, during a political speech, or
commercial speech the listener weighs what he gets from his speaker or speakers
before passing his judgment.
Reflective Listening-
This involves identifying the main ideas and thinking of the consequences. The
listener asks questions and challenges a point. An example is listening to an
informational message.
B. Extensive
Listening- In this type, the listener is relaxed, he does not need
to make any comment or any criticism. Rather he enjoys what the speaker is
saying without putting any interest on the information being passed. Examples
are: a person listening to spoken performance, listening to News, listening to
music etc.
According to Hybels and Weaver, in
Umera-Okeke (2001:54) for a student to listen actively he should be able to:
A. identify the central/main ideas in
lecturers.
B. identify supporting materials with
illustrations and examples.
C. form
a mental outline of the central ideas and the supporting information and try to
remember them.
D. predict
what will come next.
E. relate
point to experience.
F. look
for similarities and differences in relation to what he already knows.
G. take
notes and ask friendly questions to the speaker and seek clarification in
things not understood.
These
Socio-psychological detriments to Effective Listening Include:
i. Environmental
factors- Noise from various places could cause someone to be distracted from
listening to a speaker. Such noise could be from the railway, the road, the
school or the arena. Other things like loud music could also make one to loose
one’s hearing. In this case a well conducive environment should be maintained
to help minimize the noise. It is good to provide all the necessary facilities
that will make the students feel comfortable while studying.
ii Situational
factors- This factor is a problem on both the speaker’s side and the listener’s
side. When the speaker has a soft voice, stammers, or speaks fast, he cannot
speak loudly. The listener cannot understand the speaker. In most cases, the
listener tries to give a feedback, suggesting or indicating that he cannot hear
the speaker.
However,
if a listener is incompetent in the language of communication, this posses a
problem to him. A listener must be linguistically competent in his language in
order to understand the speaker.
iii. Another
problem on the listener’s side is pseudo- listening, which can also be called,
faked listening. Sometimes a listener pretends to be listening to the speaker’s
message by smiling, nodding while actually his mind in somewhere else. Such a
listener is physically present but spiritually absent.
iv. A
listener that that is totally or partially deaf will have a problem in
listening. A deaf listener has no need of listening because what he “hears” can
have no effect on him. In this case he will be advised to attend special school
where he can learn with the right facilities if he is a student. For a
partially deaf listener, it is important that he makes use of hearing aids to
improve his hearing ability.
v. Anxiety-Anxiety
could cause one not to listen attentively to a speaker. A listener that has
this problem hears but does not listen. This problem could be caused by his
family or the attitude of the speaker (teacher) to the listener (student). In
all, when a listener is emotionally down, his rate of listening is also down;
he lacks concentration, thereby removing himself from what is happening around
him. Teachers or speakers should make their lesson or speeches interesting, as
this will make the listener to forget his worries and listen effectively.
There
are other listening problems that extended beyond the ones identified here, but
whichever it may be, one should try to suppress them and listen very well.
Exercise
I
What is listening?
Write
a brief note on the different types of listening, citing examples.
Exercise II
Differentiate between hearing and listening.
Exercise III
Comment
on the socio-psychological deterrents to effective listening.
a. on the part of the listener
b. on the part of the speaker and
c. state
briefly how to solve the listening problems of the listener and the speaker.
READING:
TYPES AND PURPOSES
Reading is part of our daily lives. It
is fundamental to our social and intellectual development. We do a lot of
reading outside textbooks. As we go about our daily activities, we read
advertisements on billboards, inscriptions on vehicles, names of streets,
business names on shops, etc. as we ply the streets everyday, we find out that
our functioning effectively to an extent depends on the things we read. Even
within schools, church premises, markets hotels, etc; lots of things are to be
read. Reading therefore, plays a very vital role in our daily lives.
As students, our success depends so much
on reading and our reading culture. We need to read to obtain information and
ideas to enable us pass our exams. We also need to read for language
development. As English language students, the more you read texts written in
English the more exposed to the language you become. You will become more
familiar with various uses and usages of the language and this will improve your
ability to use the language. For this, students should develop interest in
reading various types of texts; both the ones recommended for academic
activities and those not recommended. Moreover, the world is changing rapidly.
We cannot afford to be ignorant of the world around us, of people, places, and
events. We cannot afford to take this risk. The consequences are dire!
WHAT IS READING? It
is one of the four basic language skills. It involves the perception of graphic
symbols and the interpretation of what they stand for. It is a process of
sharing a writer’s meaning, ideas, experiences and interpretation. Reading also
includes some set of analysis, synthesis and evaluation of what is perceived
and interpreted. Reading therefore, is a mental and mechanical process. The mechanical
process being the ability to perceive graphic symbols and the mental process
being the ability to interpret, infer, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate.
Reading is not just the ability to articulate words; it is a thinking process
of understanding both the explicit and implicit expressions and reacting
adequately to them.
Unoh’s definition of reading concludes
our attempt at explaining what reading is. To him,
Good reading includes an understanding or comprehension
not only of the literal sense or meaning of the written or printed material,
but also of the meaning implied by the author’s mood, his tone, towards his
subject, his readers and even himself.
LEVELS OF READING COMPREHENSION:
Nduka (1991: 101) states that there are three widely recognized levels of
thinking involved in reading comprehension.
There
are:
1. The literal or factual
2. The interpretative or inferential level
3. The critical or evaluate level
THE LITERAL LEVEL:
This is the lowest level of understanding. There is simple recognition and
recall of information. It involves an internal understanding of things stated
without resource to reason or personal opinion. Things stated are taken at face
value.
THE INTERPRETATIVE LEVEL: At this level the reader
reads between the lines to understand both what has been expressed and what is
implied by the author. Understanding here goes a step beyond the literal to
interpret the use of expressions and make inferences on failure to use
expressions. A good example is understanding the use of idiomatic and
figurative expressions.
THE CRITICAL/ANALYTICAL/EVALUATIVE
LEVEL: This is the
highest level in the reasoning process. It involves the literal comprehension
the inferential and interpretative skills as well as passing value judgment on
what was read. This judgment could be on the quality, accuracy, truthfulness,
relevance, etc; of what is read. The reader arrives at a conclusion by
integrating facts and details contained in the text and other extra-textual
information. Critical reading is concerned with weighing up the writer’s total
argument, assessing it for its strengths and weaknesses and making connection
between it and related ideas.
SKILLS IN READING
Reading
skills are strategies one can apply to different types and purposes of reading
They
are:
1. SCANNING:
Scanning is a skill applied in looking
for a specific predetermined idea or information, eg name of a person, thing or date of an event. When
you scan, you run your eyes through a text in search of something specific;
other pieces of information are ignored in the process. Scanning is applied
when we want to find the meaning of words in a dictionary; locate our results
on the notice board; locate a country or a town in a map; etc.
2. SKIMMING:
This is another faster reading skill.
This involves glancing rapidly through a text to determine its gist. Skimming
is employed when a reader is more interested in indentifying the main ideas
rather than details or when one wants to get, the general idea of a text or
printed material to be read later. In this case you want to determine whether a
particular text is worth reading.
In skimming, the introductory section is
read, followed by the reading of some selected part of the lines, picking key
words and phrases that you require. Irrelevant sections are skipped and
relevant sections are more carefully read. skimming helps you to predict and
anticipate and at the same time the reader appreciates, evaluates and places
value judgment on the text.
INTENSIVE READING
In intensive reading, we examine the
text very closely and carefully to understand the content very well. It is a
slow reading technique used for advanced reading in which we read for details
and consider a text critically. It could also be termed study-type reading
engaged in when we are preparing of an examination or similar situation that
warrants careful analysis and interpretation.
Reading here is done in a very quiet and
conducive environment and materials to be studied must be relevant to the
purpose of the study. Intensive reading contrasts sharply with extensive reading which entails reading widely
regardless of subject area or specialization. Apart from reading for leisure
and relaxation, in this the reader may not brother about details or the meaning
of unfamiliar words. He is just involved in reading to acquire general
knowledge and for vocabulary development. Materials for extensive reading
include novels, newspapers, magazines, journals, biographies, autobiographies,
etc. it would be noted that extensive reading can be done anywhere and anytime.
INTENSIVE READING STRATEGIES
These are techniques that help the
intensive reader to have a deeper understanding of the text being read. They
include:
1. WORD/ATTACK
TECHNIQUE
This is built on the assumption that any
passage is made up of words. Understanding a text implies understanding the
words therein. The following steps are
helpful in applying the word-attack strategy.
a. Scan through the text and pick up key words
there
b. From
each of the key words you have taken up from the passage, try to generate other
related words. This is called semantic mapping. For example a word like PILOT
could suggest other words like airport, aeroplane, flight, air hostesses etc.
c. Form
a connected concept of the text and anticipate what the writer has to say.
2. S. Q3R STRATEGY: This stands for the
following.
a. S-SURVEY: To survey a text means taking
an overview of it to get a general idea about it, in surveying a passage, you
should be able to say what the topic is, whether it is narrative or
descriptive. In this technique, the reader skims through the text to get a
general idea of the content.
b. Q-QUESTIONS: This requires the reader to
formulate questions based on the purpose of reading and the experience
gathered. Once questions are raised, the reader is in a better position to read
actively; because one would want to find out if the passage answers the
questions or if the writer’s approach is entirely different from what was
anticipated.
c. R-RECALL: This involves trying to find
out points you can still remember after reading a passage. Recall is all about
memory recapitulation of points read. You may not be able to make this recall
in the exact order in which the author presented it. Recall is what is done
when students sit together in a study group and try to ‘discuss’ what they have read in preparation for an
examination; or when a student chooses to do this personally without involving
other students.
d. r-review: This is a kind of revision.
This may take the form of re-reading certain sections of the material or
surveying a whole chapter, or skimming through his notes, or some underlined
words, phrases or sentences. It could also involve subsequent review of the ideas
jotted down. The review helps to reinforce your understanding of the passage as
well as to help you master all the points so that you can then be in a position
to answer the questions very well.
THE
PR4STUDY TECHNIQUE
This technique is different from the SQ3R
technique only in terms of terminology and details. It involves the following
steps:
a. PREVIEW: This step is equivalent to the
surveying in the SQ3R. it involves
reading the title, comments on the book by he author or others to those
in the preface; the opening paragraph, the concluding paragraph, looking at
pictures and illustrations.
b. R-READ: This is the actual reading of
the text in which the entire minutest details of the text is considered.
c. RECALL: After the actual reading, one is
expected to recall and recite the important points and ideas contained in the
text.
d. RE-READ: This reader re-reads the text
if he finds out that he is unable to recall all the points read in the text.
The sole aim of re-reading is to help recall points not yet fully committed to
memory.
e. REVIEW: This involves going through all
that has been read looking at the important points jotted down and filling the
gaps left unfilled during the recall stage.
TECHNIQUES
FOR EFFICIENCY IN READING:
1. Develop
the habit of reading and read contently.
2. Read
different materials-inscriptions on sign-posts, on labels of medicine bottles,
advertisements, novels, newspapers, etc.
3. Read
words as a group and not as individual words. Your eye sweep must cover groups
of words at a time not just rest on individual words, e.g. The bus/left by
ten/behind schedule/ this morning.
4. Vary
your reading speed. Faster reading skills will be employed for extensive
reading while the reading speed should be slow for critical/study reading.
IMPEDIMENTS
TO READING SPEED AND COMPREHENSION
1. VOCALIZATION/WHISPERING OF WORDS/LIP
MOVEMENT
This
is when a reader whispers the words of the text silently to himself as he
reads.
2. SUB-VOCALIZATION: This is similar to
vocalization; the difference being that the reader pronounces the words in his
mind without moving the lips.
3. WORD TRACING/FINGER POINTING:
This practice is seen mostly in young readers, for instance in some children.
But unfortunately, when they grow, they refuse to drop the practice. The finger
can never be as fast as the eye and therefore, is counter productive.
4. HEAD MOVEMENT: Some readers are wont to
move their heads from left to right as they engage in reading exercise. It is
advisable not to read with the head but with the eyes. Head movement affects
good eye fixation adversely.
5. REGRESSION: This is deliberately going
back to sentences, clauses phrases or even words which one has already read.
This does not mean that one cannot go back to re-read these, however, it
becomes a problem when this is constantly done.
6. BACK-SKIPPING: This is similar to
regression; the major difference being that one goes back to the units read
unconsciously, possible due to some eye problem or absent mindedness.
7. LACK OF PERCEPTION OF WORDS: as
belonging to groups and failure to read as such.
8. CONSTANT REFERENCE TO THE DICTIONARY:
This does not mean that reference should not be made to the dictionary; however
if it becomes too many, speed is interrupted as well as the flow of thought.
Words are used in context in any given text. The contexts are linguistic and
situational. The context of a word helps in deriving the meaning of words in
any given text. Constant recourse to the use of the dictionary impedes the
ability to infer which is very important for effective comprehension.
9. INABILITY TO MATCH THE READING SPEED WITH
THE PURPOSE: Different reading texts
demand different speed. For example, intensive reading requires slow speed
while extensive reading requires fast speed.
10. LINGUISTIC FACTORS: Such as poor
language development (poor vocabulary acquisition) inability to recognize the
organization and overall structure of the written material, language
interference and individual deposition or attitude to the language used can all
cause inefficient reading and poor comprehension.
PURPOSE
OF READING
People
do not read materials for no cause at all. Different people read for different
purposes. Below are the purposes for reading;
1. READING FOR VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: One
of the ways of developing our vocabulary is through reading. Vocabulary means
the word stock of a language available to its users. We have the vocabulary for
general communication and then the specialized vocabularies of various
disciplines. Apart from this, a reader comes in contact with collocations
(Idiomatic expressions phrasal verbs, etc) through reading.
2. READING FOR LEISURE/PLEASURE: Reading
for leisure is done when reading pleasantly occupies one’s time. The materials
to be read is not restricted. It could be an article, a novels, newspaper, etc.
reading for leisure can be done anywhere and at anytime.
3. READING FOR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: The
daily newspapers and weekly magazines report issues and events concerning our
society and people in them. One does this type of reading in order not to be
left behind in the goings on around one both globally and otherwise.
4. READING FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSE: As
students, we read lecture notes, course books and other materials relevant to
our area of study. Moreover, we carry out research and present term papers and
seminar papers regularly; we also write quiz and examination. All reading
exercise geared towards the success of our academic exercise is reading for
academic purpose.
ESSAY
WRITING
We are all apprentices in a craft where no
one ever becomes a master,
Ernest Hemmingway.
The essay is a type of composition in which
one attempts to communicate information, opinion or feeling. It is an exercise
that gives one the opportunity to explore and clarify thoughts about a
particular subject in a continuous thought- provoking and logically arranged
pattern.
Essays
consist of ideas; these ideas are strung together in a systematic arrangement
to form a coherent whole.
Essay
writing is one of the constant writing tasks demanded of students in
institutions of higher learning. It gives the student the opportunity to express
feelings, attitudes, institution, thought and
philosophies; explain or inform about some person, place, things ,events,
procedure so as to present an understanding of the relationship of its part to
a whole; persuade the reader to understand and accept the writer’s conclusions,
opinions, viewpoints or attitudes about a given subject.
The writing process
Writing
is a process or a set of processes and therefore a complex activity. It
involves thing, organizing ideas, considering the context and re-writing. To
produce a readable essay the student needs to pass through some stages in the
writing process. These are the pre-writing stages, the writing stage and the re-writing
or post writing stage.
The pre-writing stage
This is a pre-requisite to competent
writing.
It is the first of the three stages of
writing. A lot of activities are involved here. One of the aims of these
activities is to help develop a plan for producing a seasoned essay.
Choice of topic or subject
The
first thing in writing an essay is finding something to write about. In most
cases especially in examinations, there is a choice of essay topics from which you are expected to pick one.
This is a little bit tricky as most students rush into it without proper care.
This rush often leads to a wrong choice and therefore a poor essay. For
instance, the choice of a topic such as this ’’snow in London” is an obvious
mistake of a choice if have ever been to London or experience snow in London.
The same goes for choosing “photography” if you have never held a camera in
your hand or have no knowledge of photography. To avoid this pitfall, you are
expected to be careful in your choice of a topic.
Ø Go
through the provided topics analytically before making your pick
Ø Choose
one which sparks of your interest or
Ø One
in which you are knowledgeable about.
Ø One
in which you can finish within the allowed space and time.
A
consideration of these makes the writing of the essay more stimulating leading
to the production of a convincing essay.
Limiting your essay
When
you have made your choice, the next step is narrowing or limiting your topics
especially where the topic given is too broad.
This
narrowing down of topic is necessary because it enables you deal with the topic
within the assigned space and time. It also helps keep you in focus and
determines the ideas to include and the ones to ignore. You can, limit the
topic by considering a particular approach or point of view to the subject or a
sub-topic within it.
Consider the following topics:
Markets
Media
Information technology
War
Obviously,
these topics are too broad and need to be narrowed and focused.
For
instant ‘market’ could be narrowed down to A typical market day in my town’.
Media could be narrowed down by selecting one aspect of the media, for
instance, “commercials”. This could still be narrowed down to a specific part
of commercials. For example “how commercials manipulate their audience, this
has defined your scope and given you an angle from which to begin your essay
thereby making your work easier.
The Thesis Statement
The
thesis statement is the sentence that communicates the main idea of your paper
to the reader. The information gathered from limiting your topic will help you
form your thesis statement. Your topic gives the reader an idea of what you
want to say but the thesis statement is your stand or the point you are making
in your essay. A good thesis statement can be written in the following ways or
in a combination of these:
1)
A strong controversial statement:
For
instant on the topic “Bilingual education has not fulfilled its early promise”
2)
A call to action:
All
secondary schools should set up a bilingual program’
3)
A question that will be answered in the
essay.
What
can bilingual education accomplish for a child? It can lead to academic and
personal development
4)
A preview or forecast of the structure of
the essay
“Bilingual
education suffers from two main problems the shortage of trained teachers and
the lack of parental involvement.
5)
Thesis statement in an argumentative essay:
A
bilingual program is more effective than an immersion program in helping
students to succeed academically”.
This
is an opinion that will be supported with evidence in the paper. As can be seen
in the examples above, the thesis statement is best expressed in one sentence.
It must be specific as it helps to organize your easy and give it direction.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
is the next step after a thesis statement has been stated. It involves a
stimulation of your brain to reproduce all knowledge that has been accumulated
over time from observations, experiences, discussions, reading, research,
lectures, seminars etc. The goal of brainstorming is to generate ideas that
will help you write your essay. As the idea come to you, jot them down the way
they come to you. Don’t bother about order as far as you think the ideas are
related to your topic. After you might have exhausted what you have jotted
down, eliminate those that are irrelevant and gather related ones together.
Apart
from generating ideas and jotting them down the way they come to you, you could
sometimes use questioning to help you probe the topic. This is known as
reporters’ question. You may ask who? What? , where? , when? , why? , how? , of
a topic. They help you turn up parts of an idea you might otherwise over look.
Now look at the topic below:
”The
person who influenced my life.”
Let
us brainstorm on it using generation of ideas.
Thesis
statement: my grandmother most influenced my life.
Generated
ideas:
She
is kind.
She
sets good example.
Listens
to my problems and help me solve them.
Very
religious
A
good cook
Worked
very hard
Always
honest
Loved
me
Encourage
me to read.
Always
learning something new
Learnt
to drive at age 60
Imposing,
ninety years, tall, white haired, fair in complexion, 60kg
Outlining
Outlining
is the next step after brainstorming. At this stage you go carefully through
the ideas jotted down and eliminate irrelevant ones. Then gather the relevant
ones together and organize them according to their logical order of
presentation. First, present the major and then their supporting ideas
sequentially in an out-line form. If this is effectively done, it will enable
you plan and present your thoughts point by point, clearly and in logical
order. It will also show the relationships between the ideas in your writing.
The
outline is the skeleton of your essay and is essential for organizing your
thoughts and ideas and for helping maintain your focus through out the essay.
It is like a roadmap which is there to keep you from loosing your sense of
direction. A good outline will ensure that every thing you write in the essay
supports your thesis statement. It will take you from one end of the essay to
the other in a logical order.
Sample outline
A. Topic: the person who influenced my life.
Thesis
statement: My grandmother most influenced my life.
Outline
1. Major point Imposing figure
Supporting
ideas: Ninety years old
White haired,
Tall, weighs
about 60kg,
Fair in
complexion
2. Major point: kind
Supporting
ideas: Loved me,
Listened to my
problems
3. Major point: Good example
Supporting
ideas: Religious,
Worked hard
Honest
Good cook
4. Major point: Learning
Supporting
ideas: Encouraged me
Learnt to drive at
60yrs.
A.
Topic: Rainforests
Narrowed
down: Rain forest preservation
Thesis
statement: Rapid destruction of rainforests has destroyed its valuable
characteristics thereby creating negative effects.
Major
point: Characteristics of rain forests
Supporting
ideas: 1. Variety of species
2. value of rainforests
a. Medicinal value
b. Food value
Major
point: The destruction of rainforests
Supporting
idea: 1. Rate at which
rainforests are destroyed
2. Reasons why rainforests are
destroyed
a. Poverty
b. Large company projects
Major
point: Effects on environment
Supporting
ideas: 1.
Extinction of species
2. Global warning
Conclusion
Writing the essay
This
is the second stage in the writing process. It is made up of your thesis
statement, major ideas and supporting details. These are written in paragraphs
with an introduction, body and conclusions. At this stage, you review your pre-
writing, include or add important details, facts and examples making sure they
are well connected in a continuous manner. New ideas may occur to you as you
write, work with them making sure they blend with your thesis statement.
Post-writing
or Re-writing stages
This
is the final stage of your essay and involves a revision of what you have
written. It gives you the opportunity to check for grammatical errors,
punctuation and spelling. It is also an opportunity to check your paragraphs
and the transitional markers within and between them. At the end of this
exercise, your essay is ready.
Parts of an essay
Aristotle
said that a work of art must have a beginning, middle and an end. The
beginning, middle and an end. The beginning of your essay is the introduction
containing your thesis statement, the end is your conclusion while the middle
is the body of your essay containing the major ides supported by examples
designed to prove your thesis. If you aspire to write a good essay, you must
bear this in mind: every essay has three part, an introduction, middle and an
end.Any work short of these will show formlessness and incompleteness.
The introduction
This
is the beginning of your essay and contains your thesis statement. It is a
crucial component of the essay as it informs the reader of what is to come and encourages
him/her to read further. If the introduction is tedious or fails to make the
rest of the essay interesting, the reader may not wish to continue. Your
introduction then shows whether your essay is worth reading or not. It sets the
overall tone of your essay.
The
introductory part may take the following forms:
a. Enumerating main ideas
Topic:
My Cynosure
Introduction:
Children
are may cynosure. Their simple, inquisitive and innocent nature never ceases to
fascinate me.
b. A story:
This is a narration that is told to
arouse your readers’
Interest.
Topic:
The crave for new cars.
Introduction:
“Emeka,” said Chika, as her husband was just settling down quietly to listen to
the evening news on the television, do you know that John and Rita have got a
new car? “Oh yeah, when, what brand?” “A Toyota RAV4” replied Chika. “In fact,
I think it is time we got a new one too. How can you expect me to ride about in
a Peugeot 504 when all our friends have all got such big new cars?” Emeka
sighed and turned to face his wife.
In
the past ten years the number of motor cars in Nigeria has increased by leaps
and bounds.
c. A question:
You can begin your essay with a question.
This question is then
answered in the rest of the paragraphs.
Topic: Electricity
Introduction: Can you imagine life without electricity?
Well that is exactly how
people lived in the olden days.
D. A quotation: This
provides a guidepost to the easy.
Topic: Women
education
Introduction: Educate
a woman and you educate a nation.
E. Thesis statement: This is a general statement about the topic. This is developed in the body of the essay
Topic: Women
Education
Introduction: Educating women is very useful in many ways.
Body of the Essay
The body of the essay is
made up of paragraphs which deal with the major points raised in the outline.
It elaborates the thesis statement in a systematic way. It contains all that
the writer wants to say ordered in a sequentially arranged paragraphs. Each
main point is developed in a paragraph. In writing the body of the essay, give
careful attention to the following areas:
---paragraph and sentence co-ordination
---accuracy of information
---punctuation
---grammar and
---spelling
Conclusion
The
final part of the essay is the conclusion. The concluding part of your essay is
the last paragraph and brings the essay to an end. It is as important as the
introduction. It’s major function is to clinch neatly the points you made in
the preceding paragraphs without introducing an entirely new ideas. It could
come in different forms using signal word or phrases like in summary, finally,
in conclusion, at last, among others. These signal words should be applied to
fit the context and not used mechanically. The conclusion could be any of the
following:
§ Summation
of what has been said
§ Pointing
out the implications that grow out of the body of the essay.
§ A quotation
to support the main idea.
TECHNIQUES OF WRITING
Every
good essay is characterized by the following qualities
Ø Economy
Ø Simplicity
Ø Clarity
of expression
Economy of words:
An
Essay should be precise in its use of words. It should contain no unnecessary
words, phrases, sentence or paragraphs. It does not necessarily mean you should
have short sentences all through or that you avoid details rather in means that
every word should count. You should avoid the use of words that have no precise
role in the sentence. Look at the following.
Examples:
Wordy:
On a really cold day during the harmanttan, two employees who obviously worked
for a firm which was located in Zaria were sitting in the vicinity behind me on
a plane.
Revised:
On
a cold harmattan day, two employees of a firm in Zaria were sitting behind me
on the plane.
To
write concisely, avoid using the following
---
Words that say nothing and
---
Words that repeat that same or similar words.
Here
are a few examples
The
following phrases should be replaced with single or specific words.
Omit Replace
with
At
the present time now
At
this point in time now
By
means of by
For
the purpose of for
Have
the ability be
able to.
Simplicity of Expression
Simplicity
is a basic quality of good writing. It does not mean a series of monotonous
short sentences but a logical combination of simple words in plain language to
express idea. It is the absence of high sounding or complex language in
presenting your ideas so that your readers will be able to understand your
ideas.
Clarity of expressions.
Clarity
implies the use of vivid expression to state your ideas. This means that once
you have your ideas; say it as clearer as possible. Arrange the words and
sentence so that they convey your exact meaning. This necessitate the omission
of any word or phrase that is ambiguous.
Evaluation of Essay in
Examinations:
Student
essays especially in examination are evaluated using certain guidelines. These
guidelines are content, organization, expression and mechanical accuracy
(COEMA). The marks allocated for your essay in examination are distributed
across these areas.
Content: Content
deals with your ability to chose and carefully presents facts that are relevant
to your topic.
In order to score a reasonable
mark under contents you must note the following points
·
Keep your ideas closely related to the
subject of your essay.
·
Use points that would show that you actually
understand the various sides of the topic.
·
Make sure that the ideas are factual and
relevant to the topic.
If
your topic has segments or divided into parts make sure you say something about
each segment or parts. An observation of the above shows that you have a clear
understanding of the above shows that you have a clear understanding of what
the topic involves. For instance on the topic. “A journey I will Never forget”.
You must be able to discuss the various stages relating to the journey
(preparation for the journey, the journey away from home, the arrival at the
destination, the journey homewards, the arrival back home), and make it very
clear why the journey must indeed be unforgettable.
Organization
The
ways you organize your ideas or points are also important. Organization is the
general order in which you present your entire essay. You should note the
following points in organization:
The
essay is usually made up of paragraphs with a number of ideas. Discuss each of
the ideas making up the essay in paragraphs, one paragraph, and one idea.
These
supporting details should be relevant to your topic sentence.
Maintain
two levels of unity in the essay.
One
is inter-paragraph unity where you ensure that all the paragraphs, from the
introductory to the concluding, relate to one another in a logical manner.
Inter-paragraph unity is achieved by using transitional words. The other is
intra-paragraph unity where you ensure a smooth flow of thoughts from one
sentence to the other.
Make
sure your essay falls into the pattern of introduction, body and conclusion.
Expression
This
is the overall impression that one gets from your composition on your ability
to write good English: note the following points in your essay about
expression:
Ø Choose
your words carefully to avoid pretentious language. This entrails using words
that are original, essay to read and understand, uncomplicated, simple and non
simple sentences carefully woven together. This is important to avoid
ambiguities.
Ø Use
figurative expressions you know and can fit in into your details to enhance the
beauty of your language.
Ø Make
use that your sentences obey the grammatical rules and conventions of the
English language.
Mechanical Accuracy
This
refers to matters such as correct spelling, correct punctuation, correct use of
capital letters, and correct use of singular and plural noun forms. To ensure
that you do not lose marks unnecessarily from this area, after writing your
essay, during the re-writing stage, go carefully through your essay to check
the following:
·
Wrong use of words
·
Misuse of tense
·
Omission of some vital words.
·
Careless spelling among others.
A careful observation of these aspects of evaluation
will ensure that you come out with a reasonable essay.
Types
of Essay
There are four types of essays as generally recognized
in English. These are
§ Narrative
Essay
§ Descriptive Essay
§ Expository Essay
§ Argumentative
Essay
Narrative Essay
A
narrative essay tells a story, true or imaginative. Ti has character, setting
and action. The characters, the setting and the problem of the narrative are
usually mentioned at the beginning. The problem reaches it highest point at the
middle while the end resolves the problems. The rest on the narrative problem
is on the ability to think very fast in a serial thought to put together a
credible story to the reader. The narrative essay events take place in
chronological order, (Sequence in time) because one thing happens before the
other. The purpose of this type of essay is to recount a personal or fictional
experience or take a story based on real or imagined event. In a well written
narrative, drama, suspense, humors or fantasy are used to create a central
theme or impression. The details all work together to develop an identifiable
story line that is essay to follow or appraise. The narrative essay is usually
written in the first person using ‘I’. however, the third person (he, she, it)
can also be used. They rely on concrete sensory detail to convey their point.
At the pre-writing stage, you need to select an incident worthy of writing
about and try to find relevance in that incident.
Example
of narrative topics include
An unforgettable experience in my life
A
journey I will never forget
How
I met my wife
A
wedding ceremony I will never forget
Thank
God it was a dream
All
that glitters is not gold.
The descriptive Essay
Description
is a basic kind of expression. A fundamental way to communicate is to tell
others what something looks, feels, smells, lasts or sounds like. It draws on
all of the senses not merely the visual. A descriptive essay portrays people,
places, things and moments with enough vivid detail to help the reader create a
mental picture of what is being written about. Its purpose is to enable the
reader to share you sensory experience of the subject.
Features
of the Descriptive Essay
i. Descriptive
essays make use of spatial order in order to show the reader where things are
located from your perspective.
ii. Observation
is very relevant in description.
Examples
of Descriptive Essays
i. The
Polytechnic Main Gate
ii. The
Girl I would like to marry
A
sample Descriptive Essay
The
Human Heart
The
heart is a cone-shaped organ with its circular base at the top and the point of
the cone at the bottom. It is made mainly of muscular tissue and is divided
down the middle into two separate halves which have no direct communication
with each other. However, each of these halves is itself divided into two
parts, the upper called atrium and the lower called ventricle. The four
chambers of the heart are therefore known as the right atrium, the left atrium,
the right ventricle and the left ventricle. The size of the heart is like that
of a man’s clenched first and it weighs a little less than 300 grams. Its
dimensions are approximately 12x9x6 centimeter (length, breadth, and thickness).
The heart lies in the middle of the chest and its point leans slightly to the
left with its base towards the right. The heart is like two pumps constantly at
work. The left-side pumps pure blood with oxygen from the lungs, to all parts
of the body. The right side, at the same time, pumps and impure blood collected
from all parts of the body, to the lungs where it gives up its carbon dioxide
and takes in fresh oxygen. The left atrium receives the pure blood and passes
it down to the left ventricle which discharges it to all parts of the body. The
right receives the impure blood and passes it down to the right ventricle which
discharges it to the lungs. The passing or pumping of blood from atrium to
ventricle occurs through the contraction and relaxation of the heart muscles
and these gives rise to the beating of the heart muscles and these give rise to
the beating of the heart. In the average person the heart beats about 80 times
a minute.
In
healthy persons, exercise quickens the heart beats because more oxygen is
required; rest slows down the beat. The beat is slower in older persons than in
the younger person. In healthy persons of the same age it is usually quicker in
females than in males. Excitement tends to quicken the rate of beat; in people
of quite emotions the beat is usually slower than in others. Some
condition-fever, shock and hemorrhage-quicken the rate, whilst pressure on the
brain and some drugs slow the beat.
Expository
Essay
Expository
essay explains facts and ideas so that they are easily understood. It involves
the explanation of a process or procedure with the ideas organized
sequentially. Expository essay involves writing about a place, person or
events, explaining why something is the
way it is or giving direction on how to do something or how to get some where.
The purpose of expository essay is to inform, explain, clarify, define or
instruct by giving information, explaining why or how, clarifying a process or
defining a concept.
Features of the Expository Essay
A
good expository essay has a clear central presentation of ideas, examples or
definitions that enhance the focus developed through a carefully crafted
reader’s understanding. In writing expository essays, regard yourself as an
instructor, be sure of your facts and explain the facts in their logical order.
Expository essays are generally organized according to time, ie they begin with
the first step in the process and proceed until the last step in the process.
It is natural then that the transition words indicate that one step has been
completed and a new one will begin. Some common transition words include.
After
a few hours, immediately, following,
At
last initially, next,
At
the same time lastly first
Examples of Expository Essay
- Why
students fails English in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.
- How to make moi moi.
- The aims of Universal Basic Education
- The place of women in the traditional
Igbo community.
Argumentative Essays
“Argumentation”,
says O’ Neil, Lay-cock and Scale, “is the art of influencing others through the
medium of reasoned discourse to believe or at s we wish them to believe or
act”. It is a more complex process of reasoning, of drawing conclusions from
evidence or presumed facts and logic than any other type of essay so far
discussed.
Features of the argumentative essay:
Argumentative
essay state an opinion and support it convincingly. It is neither completely
objective nor wholly emotional instead it uses the controlled feelings of
writing to persuade the audience. This type of writing moves the reader to take
action or to form a change in opinion. It requires thinking skills such as
analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Argumentative essay require that you choose
from a variety of situation or to take a stand, state and support a position,
opinion or issue or to defend refute or argue a case.
The
major purpose of this type of writing is to convince the reader to believe or
agree with your point of view.
To
build a good argumentative essay you must
Ø Establish
a fact supporting your argument
Ø Prioritize
and sequence the facts and values in order of importance
Ø Form
and state your conclusion
Ø Persuade
your audience that your occlusions are based upon the agreed facts.
Structure of the argumentative Essays
Introduction: give background or perhaps an illustrative
example to show the significance of the subject or the nature of the
controversy.
Refutation: give
a brief statement of refutation of the opposing views to make your reader aware
that you have considered but rejected them for good reason. Presentation of
your argument: Through-out the body of your essay, you should build your case
one point at a time, perhaps devoting one paragraph to the defence of each of
your premises or setting forth your evidence in separate, meaningful
categories.
Conclusion:
After
all your evidence have been presented and your premise defended, pull your
whole argument together in the last paragraph by showing how the evidence you have
presented provides sufficient grounds for accepting your conclusion. You may
also ad here some conventional device to finish your essay, such as a
prediction, a new example, a reference to the example with which you began,
probably now seen in a new light.
Examples of Argumentative Essay
- Polytechnic Education is better than
university Education
- School uniforms should be introduced in
tertiary institutions
- Seat belts save lives
- National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
should be scrapped.
- Sex education should be taught in
schools.
Revision Exercise
1. State the three stages of essay writing
2. List the activities of the pre-writing
stage
3. What is a thesis statement?
4. Write an outline of the following topics
My Mother
Unemployment
among school leavers
The
Polytechnic Auditorium
5. Enumerate the four essay types
6. Write
only the introductory and concluding paragraphs of the following essay topics.
·
The girl/boy I would like to marry.
·
Polytechnic Education is better than
University Education.
·
The place of women in the traditional Igbo
society.
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